it's president obama's 15th time in the state and mitt romney is there a little later tonight. he is tailoring his message for the heartland. >> there are big differences between the president and me. he has in plan for rural america, no plans forking a culture, no plan for getting people back to work. i do. >> reporter: normally you would see the running mates crisscrossing across the battleground states. they are temporarily off the campaign trail. >> emily, talking about those debates, mitt romney's comment about big bird last week is getting more play. tell us what's developing with that. >> reporter: usually we talk about politics making for strange bed fellows. this case you have to factor in big bird's nest. big bird is the leading character in the now hob attack ad. >> big, yellow, a menace to our economy. mitt romney knows it's not wall street you have to worry b it's sesame street. >> the sarcasm. it spots big bird with the likes of bernie madoff. romney said he would cut the federal subsidy to pbs to reduce the deafcy. romney said this had shows misplaced presidentia